How to Make a Will in Canada
Making a will province by province: formal and holograph wills, witness counts, executor and guardian roles, from each province's official pages.
Writing a Will in Canada Checklist
A will in Canada is made under the law of the province or territory where you live: decide, draft, sign it that province's way, and store the original.
Applies in: CA
The short answer
A will in Canada is made under the law of one province or territory — the one where you live. The decisions come first and are the same everywhere: what you own and owe, who receives what, and who will manage the estate. The legal shape comes second and is not the same anywhere: the forms a will can take, the age and capacity rules, and the signing and witness requirements are set by your province or territory, and Quebec's forms differ from all the others. Items 1 and 2 apply to everyone. Items 3 to 6 each cover a set of provincial and territorial routes: work the item for the place you live and skip the rest. Item 7 applies to every finished will. Each item names the guide it rests on. This checklist is process only; it gives no legal advice, and it states no lawyer fees or court fees.
1. List what you own and what you owe, and decide who receives what
Done when: the list of assets and debts exists on paper, and each part of it has a named destination or is covered by a residue instruction.
Ontario's estate planning and wills page describes an estate as the assets — money, property and personal items — and debts a person leaves when they die, and a will as the legal document that explains how that property should be taken care of and distributed, down to how much money should be paid to a specific person or charity. The same page notes the two holdings a bare list misses: property owned in joint tenancy passes to the surviving owner, and life insurance and registered plans can name their own beneficiaries. The Ontario will guide works this inventory for Ontario; every other provincial guide on this site works the same inventory under its own law.
2. Choose the estate trustee, and talk to them before the will is signed
Done when: the person named to manage the estate knows they are named, has agreed to the work, and knows where the finished will will be kept.
Ontario's page names the role an estate trustee and sets the working rules: more than one person can be named, the trustee must follow the instructions in the will and obey the law, and it is a good idea to talk to the person before naming them to make sure they are comfortable with the responsibilities. Age, time, ability to manage property and finances, and location are the factors the page lists for the choice. Every provincial guide on this site carries the same step, under the term its province uses.
3. Ontario and the western provinces: draft and sign under your province's rules
Done when: the will is drafted and signed the way the guide for your province requires.
This item applies only in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan or Manitoba. Ontario's page states who can make a will there — at least 18 years old and mentally capable — and lists the drafting routes: an online tool, a will kit, a handwritten holograph will, or a lawyer. The signing and witness rules are each province's own, and the guide carries them: the Ontario guide, the British Columbia guide, the Alberta guide, the Saskatchewan guide and the Manitoba guide. Manitoba's guide walks Manitoba's own Wills Act rules — execution, witnesses and holograph wills as Manitoba states them — and does not borrow Ontario's.
4. Atlantic provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island
Done when: the will is drafted and signed the way the guide for your Atlantic province requires.
This item applies only in one of the four Atlantic provinces. The New Brunswick guide, the Nova Scotia guide, the Newfoundland and Labrador guide and the Prince Edward Island guide each rest on that province's own wills legislation. The decisions in items 1 and 2 carry over unchanged; the forms and the signing rules do not, so the guide to work is the one for the province where you live.
5. Quebec: choose among the Civil Code's three forms
Done when: one of Quebec's three forms is chosen, and the will is made in that form.
This item applies only in Quebec. The Quebec will guide walks the three forms the Civil Code of Québec provides: the notarial will, made before a notary and the form that sets Quebec apart from every other province; the holograph will; and the will made in the presence of witnesses. The choice of form decides how the will is signed and kept, so it comes before drafting, not after. French terms are stated once in that guide, in English throughout.
6. The territories: Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut
Done when: the will is drafted and signed the way the guide for your territory requires.
This item applies only in one of the three territories. The Yukon guide, the Northwest Territories guide and the Nunavut guide each walk their territory's own wills rules. Territorial populations are small and the statutes are their own; none of the three guides is a copy of a provincial one.
7. Everywhere: store the original, and make sure it can be found
Done when: the signed original is stored in one known place, and the estate trustee knows where that place is.
This item applies to every will, in every province and territory. Ontario's page covers both halves of the step: a lawyer who prepares a will can store it securely where family can find it after your death, and after you choose an estate trustee you should let them know where they can find your will. A copy is not the original, and an original nobody can find leaves the estate to the default rules in the FAQ above. The storage place goes on the same list as the assets from item 1.
What the opened pages do not state
This checklist states no lawyer fees, notary fees, probate fees or court fees. Those figures differ by province and territory, by the route chosen and by the estate itself, and they change on government and professional schedules, so they are left to the linked provincial guides and the official pages behind them. The checklist also states no province's signing and witness rules in its own text beyond what Ontario's official page supports: those rules are the load-bearing detail of the provincial guides, and they are stated there, province by province, rather than compressed here where a compressed version could be mistaken for the rule in a province it does not describe.
Related guides:
- How to Write a Will in Ontario — the Ontario route, behind items 1, 2, 3 and 7.
- How to Write a Will in British Columbia — the British Columbia route, behind item 3.
- How to Write a Will in Alberta — the Alberta route, behind item 3.
- How to Write a Will in Saskatchewan — the Saskatchewan route, behind item 3.
- How to Write a Will in Manitoba — the Manitoba Wills Act route, behind item 3.
- How to Write a Will in New Brunswick — the New Brunswick route, behind item 4.
- How to Write a Will in Nova Scotia — the Nova Scotia route, behind item 4.
- How to Write a Will in Newfoundland and Labrador — the Newfoundland and Labrador route, behind item 4.
- How to Write a Will in Prince Edward Island — the Prince Edward Island route, behind item 4.
- How to Write a Will in Quebec — the notarial, holograph and witnessed forms, behind item 5.
- How to Write a Will in Yukon — the Yukon route, behind item 6.
- How to Write a Will in the Northwest Territories — the Northwest Territories route, behind item 6.
- How to Write a Will in Nunavut — the Nunavut route, behind item 6.
Writing a will in Canada, in order
- List what you own and what you oweOntario's estate planning page describes an estate as the assets and debts a person leaves, and a will as the document that says how they are taken care of and distributed
- Choose the person who will manage the estateOntario calls that person an estate trustee; the province's page says to talk to them before naming them, and to tell them where the will can be found
- Draft the will, or have it draftedOntario lists the routes on its own page: prepare your own will with an online tool, a will kit or a handwritten holograph will, or hire a lawyer to prepare it
- Sign it the way your province requiresSigning and witness rules are set by the province or territory where you live, and the guide for that province states them
- Store the original and say where it isOntario's page closes the loop the same way: after you choose an estate trustee, let them know where they can find your will
Questions people ask
Is a will made under one set of rules for all of Canada?
No. Wills and estates are provincial and territorial law, so the rules on who can make a will, the forms a will can take and how it must be signed and witnessed are set by the province or territory where you live. Ontario's estate planning page, for example, states Ontario's own position: a person can make a will in Ontario if they are at least 18 years old and mentally capable. The other provinces' guides on this site state their own rules, and Quebec's forms of will differ from every other province's.
What happens if I die without a will?
Ontario's estate planning page states the general position in one line: if you pass away without a will, the law determines who is entitled to your estate, how much they can receive, and who can apply to the court to manage your estate. Each province and territory has its own version of those rules. A will is the document that replaces the default with your own instructions, which is the whole reason the provincial guides exist.
Do I need a lawyer to make a will?
Ontario's page lists both routes without requiring either. A person in Ontario can prepare their own will using an online tool, completing a will kit, or writing a handwritten will, called a holograph will — with the province's warning that the will must be prepared correctly or it will not be valid. Or a lawyer can prepare the will, answer questions about tax and other things to consider, and store the will securely. The guide for your province sets out the same choice on that province's rules. This checklist is process only and gives no legal advice.
Who should manage my estate, and what do I owe them before I name them?
Ontario calls the role an estate trustee, sometimes called an executor: the person chosen to manage the estate after death, who must follow the instructions in the will and obey the law. The province's page gives the working rules this checklist follows: more than one person can be named, it is a good idea to talk to the person before naming them to make sure they are comfortable with the responsibilities, and after choosing, let them know where they can find the will. The provincial guides use their province's own term for the role where it differs.
What is different about making a will in Quebec?
The forms. Quebec's Civil Code gives the province three forms of will, and the one with no equivalent elsewhere in Canada is the notarial will, made before a notary. The Quebec guide on this site walks the notarial, holograph and witnessed forms as Quebec's own sources state them. A will drafted to another province's forms and signing rules is not a Quebec will, so Quebec has its own item in this checklist and its own guide.
Where should the finished will be kept?
Somewhere the original can be found after your death, by the person who needs it. Ontario's page covers two ends of that problem: a lawyer who prepares a will can also store it securely where family can find it after your death, and the person named as estate trustee should be told where the will can be found. A will nobody can locate does the same work as no will at all, which is why storage is the last item on this checklist rather than a footnote.
Sources
- Government of Ontario, Estate planning and wills — an estate is the assets and debts a person leaves; a will states how property is taken care of and distributed and takes effect at death; without a will the law determines entitlement and who can apply to manage the estate; in Ontario a will can be made at 18 or older by a person who is mentally capable, prepared by the person or by a lawyer, and the estate trustee should be told where the will can be found, behind items 1, 2, 3 and 7.